Lemon Poppy Seed Cake

Here we go. The best cake you’ll ever make. Especially for those of you who hate cake. I promise anyone who has tastebuds will enjoy eating this deliciousness. So sit-up. Pay attention. And grab a spoon!

Lemon Poppy Seed Cake with an Almond Glaze

What you’ll need:

1. Box of yellow cake mix or vanilla. Your preference. If you have something against boxed mix then here is how to make it from scratch: 2 cups flour, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/4 tsp salt,

2. 3 eggs (4 eggs if you’re making your own cake mix from scratch)

3. 2-3 lemons (organic preferred because you use all of the zest)

4. 1/2 -3/4 cup sugar (depends on how sweet you like it)

5. 3/4 cup coconut oil

6. 3/4 cup almond milk

7. 1 tsp vanilla extract

8. 1/3 cup poppy seeds – plus extra for decoration

Almond Glaze:
1. 2 -3 cups powdered sugar

2. almond extract

Preheat oven to 350 degree.
Mix together the box, the eggs, sugar, coconut oil, almond milk and vanilla extract until well blended. Then add in the juice and zest of one lemon. When you pull the zest make sure you chop it up into tiny pieces before adding it to the cake. Give it a taste test to see how “lemony” it is. If you can taste the lemon than you’re good. If you can’t, add in the zest of another lemon and 1/2 the juice. Keep adding more lemon juice and zest until you are happy with the flavor of the batter. It’s really a personal call. Then add in 1/3 cup poppy seeds. If you can’t see the poppy seeds well enough, add more. I kept adding until I got a good enough visual of poppy seeds in the batter.

I divided my batter into three smaller pans. About 6 inches. But this should fill two 9-inch pans perfectly fine as well. Bake time will vary depending upon your oven and the size of your pans, but start with 25 minutes and then test with a toothpick. It’s very important that you grease the pans well. I grease mine with coconut oil and it makes a wonderful crust on the outside edges of the cake.

Once the cakes are baked thoroughly and your toothpick test is clean, let the cakes sit and cool. While this is happening let’s make the glaze.

Place two cups of powdered sugar in a bowl and mix with 1 tsp almond extract. Add in small amounts of water by the teaspoon until you get the right consistency. You want it to be thick and spreadable. Not too runny, but not so thick it’s like peanut butter. This glaze will serve as the glue for the middle of your layers. When you make the glaze for the top of the cake you want to make it as thick as possible and only let it be slightly spreadable so that its a pure white topping. And so that the edges run over the side nice and slow.

Once cakes are completely cool, remove from pans by running a knife along the outer edge to loosen it from the pan. Place a plate larger than the pan on top of it and then flip it upside down. A few taps onto the bottom of the pan and the cake should release. If you’re dealing with 9-inch pans be very careful here. Your cakes will be thinner than the 6-inch smaller version that I did and you don’t want your cake to break apart.

Place your first layer onto your cake stand by doing the similar trick with the plate, but this time using your cake stand and then inverting the plate onto it. If the top of the cake is a little rounded, grab a knife and slice off the top portion so it’s even. Then pour your first layer of glaze and repeat with the remaining layers you have.

If you need to make more glaze just add in more powdered sugar with another splash of almond extract. Remember, for this final topping, the glaze should be thicker than what you used in the center layers. If your glaze isn’t thick enough add in more sugar until you get the right consistency. Pour it onto the top center of your cake and let it settle on it’s it own. Keep adding until it’s almost spreading to the very edge of the cake. Then grab a small spoon and pull the glaze over to the edges so that a drizzle falls over the side. Once you’ve completed the drizzle around the entire cake, top with more poppy seeds.

The video below will give you a better idea on how the top glaze should look and fall.

Bon appétit! If you don’t like this cake than you’re completely mental.